Chancellor's Memorandum

M E M O R A N D U M

TO: Alamo Community Colleges Family

FROM: Dr. Bruce Leslie, Chancellor

DATE: January 12, 2009

SUBJECT: Welcome Back

On behalf of the board and administration, welcome back to ACC. We hope that you had a peaceful, restful and joyous holiday with family and friends and are refreshed and ready to address the numerous opportunities before us in 2009.

First and foremost, is the opportunity we have to increase educational services to those being impacted by the economy. Although San Antonio and the greater Bexar County region have not been as impacted as other sectors of the US and Global economies, as the below news release from Comptroller Susan Combs indicates, we are not immune and must address the implications to the Texas economy. As I indicated prior to the Holiday Break, I have established The Chancellor’s Suggestion Box, an on-line opportunity to solicit your ideas to reduce costs and to increase revenues. This project and the responses the board and administration are making to the numerous audit findings will, I have every expectation, provide substantive strategies to reduce costs, increase efficiencies, improve student and employee services and continue our efforts through Baldrige and Good to Great, to become a much more effective college system with greater student success. These strategies will help us become the best community colleges in the nation if we keep our disciplined approaches and look to our employees for meaningful improvements. Thus, please ensure you take the time to send your ideas to the committee that will be co-chaired by Jim McLaughlin and Tom Cleary and composed of faculty and staff representatives from each of the colleges and the district.

As we enter the Spring registration process, I urge everyone to renew our efforts to assist our students, many of whom are returning veterans, displaced workers and dedicated friends and neighbors who are turning to the Alamo Community Colleges for a new direction, for new opportunities. It is up to us and we do have the resources and the ability, to make their interactions with us such a positive experience that their learning success will be assured.

Finally, in a matter of just a couple of weeks, the Texas Legislature will return to Austin for the opening of the new session. This year’s legislature will, most of us believe, be challenging and result in new performance expectations for higher education. There is an opportunity for us to influence these new expectations and I encourage all employees and our students to remain current on the debates and communicate actively with our legislative delegation to help them understand the value of the state’s community colleges and the importance of supporting us with greater levels of financial assistance so that we can prevent the economy from taking the same deep downturn it has taken in the rest of the nation through our outstanding teaching and economically beneficial programs.

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Bruce H. Leslie
Chancellor
Alamo Community Colleges
201 W. Sheridan, Bldg. B
San Antonio, TX 78204-1429
(210) 485-0020 (Phone)
(210) 485-0024 (Fax)
bleslie@mail.accd.edu